(23 May 09 - RV) Tomorrow May 24th marks a day of prayer for the Church in China and
on the eve of the special celebration Pope Benedict has approved a new Compendium
destined for Chinese Catholics. On 27 May 2007,
the Solemnity of Pentecost, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI sent a Letter to the
Bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in the
People’s Republic of China. “Through this Letter”, the Holy Father intends “to
offer some guidelines concerning the life of the Church and the task of evangelization
in China”, in order to help Chinese Catholics discover what the Lord and Master, Jesus
Christ, “the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of human history”, wants
from them (No. 2). The usefulness of the Letter has been confirmed by the highly
favourable reception given to it by the Chinese Catholics who had access to it. From
the information that is arriving from China, it is clear that the Papal Document has
given rise not only to study sessions exploring its content but also to many pastoral
initiatives: it is becoming a reliable point of reference for the resolution of the
various problems that the Catholic community is having to address on both the doctrinal
level and the practical, disciplinary level. On the second anniversary of the
publication of the Papal Letter, the Holy See is offering the Church in China a “Compendium”
which, following the catechetical literary genre of questions and answers, presents
once again the basic elements expressed by Pope Benedict XVI. The “Compendium”
faithfully reproduces, both in structure and language, the content of the original
Letter, quoting extended passages from it. With the addition of some footnotes and
two short Appendices, the “Compendium” is presented as an authoritative tool facilitating
a deeper understanding of His Holiness’ thought on some particularly delicate points. The
Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has approved the “Compendium” and has authorized its
publication as a document of the Apostolic See. The document will be available
on the official website of the Holy See in Chinese (using simplified and traditional
characters) and English, from 24 May 2009.